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Paper short abstract:

Much literature on economic knowledge draws on data from wealthy countries, where knowledge is often formalised. Drawing on limited primary research in Zaria, Nigeria and Hargeisa, Somaliland, we consider how frameworks might be developed to improve understanding where levels of informality are high

Paper long abstract:

Anglophone urban economic geography has tended to neglect urban economies in poorer and developing countries in which conditions of informality are often a given, yet the importance of knowledge in conducting business is evident at all levels. Hughes (2007) calls for further research into the area, and for critical engagement regarding the intersection between transnational business knowledge and indigenous knowledge in both urban and rural settings. The nature of the economic knowledge held and used by poor informal economic actors and the ways in which this contributes to economic growth is hinted at in the relevant literature, but is not examined in depth. Schmitz and Strambach (2009) observe that a global organisational concentration of economic knowledge production is being decomposed in a way that potentially creates opportunities for developing countries. From a related perspective, Lorentzen (2010) ponders why scholars of innovation are yet to apply their analytical insights to developing countries - to the people that arguably need them the most. Similarly, Murphy (2008) exhorts economic geographers to consider how they might refine their understanding of economic development by adopting an analytical lens from the Global South. An assessment of the economic knowledge of poor informal actors is overdue and would pioneer a new field of enquiry that has important spatial and growth policy implications. This paper presentation will explore these concerns, seeking to define ways in which these challenges might be met more effectively and drawing on limited primary research carried out in Zaria, Nigeria and in Hargeisa, Somaliland.